Amazon to open California distribution center in Tracy

Amazon is planning to open a third California fulfillment center in the… (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles…)

SACRAMENTO --Internet retailer Amazon.com -- after years of avoiding having any physical presence in the Golden State -- is planning to open a third massive distribution center in the Northern California city of Tracy.

The new operation is close to three major freeways -- interstates 5, 205 and 580 -- in a distant bedroom community for the San Francisco Bay Area south of Sacramento. The facility will be only about 30 miles from a second Amazon center being built in Patterson to the south.

Last month, the Seattle company cut the ribbon on a 950,000-square-foot facility in the city of San Bernardino, which started filling orders before the holiday shopping season.

Amazon did not respond to queries Tuesday seeking confirmation of plans for the Tracy distribution center.

But Tracy Mayor Brent Ives said that grading at the million-square-foot industrial park site already has been permitted and the developer expects to complete the project by August or September of next year.

Although the number is not confirmed, Ives said he expects the finished distribution center eventually would hire about 1,000 people.

"This really is a nice Christmas present for the region to have the promise of these new jobs coming," he said. "It's better than anything that's come up in years."